I'm almost a computer illiterate and regarding Puppy Linux I'm at the same level as the most novice of newbie and what's worse I sometimes do foolish things with my computer.
At some time between December 27 and December 28, I had the opportunity to read once more Eric S Raymond's paper on hackers at http://www.catb.org/~esr/faqs/hacker-howto.html.
The document can be divided into ten sections and it seems a very good guide for those who want to become hackers.
I never wanted to be a hacker but I believe that if I studied like if I wanted to be one it would be possible for me to forsake earlier my computer illiteracy.
But that day I made something unusual: I stopped at the last paragraph of the second section, the one that says
“If you want to be a hacker, keep reading. If you want to be a cracker, go read the alt.2600 newsgroup and get ready to do five to ten in the slammer after finding out you aren't as smart as you think you are. And that is all I'm going to say about crackers."
In that paragraph, "alt.2600" is a hyperlink. And just because I became curious about what the alt.2600 newsgroup was I clicked on it.
Since then my computer has behaved as if it were crazy.
I have several difficulties but what most upsets me is that it has stopped booting with Puppy’s Live DVD I have been using since last March.
The last time I tried to boot it in that way, after reading in the screen
“Loading the ‘pup-412.sys’ main file…copying to ram”
I could read
“Setting up the layered file system….. done”
And then
“Performing ‘switch root to the layered file system…Kernel panic – Not syncing: Attempted to kill init”
And the booting process froze there…

I have also had difficulties in booting with my XP, but curiously, it has sometimes occurred that leaving the Puppy Linux Live DVD in the DVD driver, has made the system ignore the Live DVD and boot the XP system!! This strange behavior is what is enabling me to post this message now.

My Norton Antivirus says the system I assembled is sure.

Can somebody help me to continue using Puppy Linux?

Antipodal

PS: I added a comma on the 9th line on Nov 15, 2010
PS: Today (May 5 2013) I have discovered the link in this post was rotten I had to edit twice to mend it._________________Slacko 533 Live CD_P4 3Ghz_ASUS P5G41T-M LX3_2G RAM_DVD Write
No internal HDD
Never save files related to Puppy's configuration
Sometimes save personal stuff on small vfat flash sticks or access via USB data on old big internal NTFS formated SATA HDDEdited_times_total

Antipodal
Joined: 26 Mar 2009Posts: 142Location: The other side of the world

Posted: Fri 29 Jan 2010, 09:57 Post_subject:

Dear Flash
Thank you for your reply.
As I said before it’s a Live DVD. I didn't burn it. It was given to me as a present.
I have used it hundred (or thousand?) of times.
I usually place it on the DVD reader tray, shut the tray and start the computer.
Or, if I’m using XP, place it on the DVD reader tray, shut the tray, close XP, and restart the computer.
After using it, it has always asked me if I want to save on my hard disk and I always answer "Do not save"
I have placed it now on the DVD reader and explored it with Windows Explorer and it only contains the following files:
VMLINUZ 1.590 KB modified on Dec 7/2008 02:15
PUP_412.SFS 93.400 KB modified on Dec 7/2008 02:19
ISOLINUX.CFG 1 KB modified on Dec 7/2008 02:19
ISOLINUX.BIN 12 KB modified on Dec 6/2008 23:23
INITRD.GZ 1.260 KB modified on Dec 7/2008 02:19
BOOT.MSG 2 KB modified on Dec 6/2008 19:43
BOOT.CAT 2 KB modified on Dec 7/2008 02:19
As I also said before, I'm almost a computer illiterate so I'm not sure I can recognize the difference between a multisession DVD or a live DVD with a save file on my hard disk.

Antipodal
Joined: 26 Mar 2009Posts: 142Location: The other side of the world

Posted: Sun 07 Mar 2010, 17:08 Post_subject:
Picking up the threadSub_title: I return to the problem, describe changes and ask for feedback

Gentlemen:
After 37 days since my last post, some things have changed:

a) Though Puppy's Live DVD has been most of the time loaded on the optical disk drive tray and this device has always been set as the first boot priority at the BIOS System Setup, it’s a long time since I’m not receiving screen messages related to Puppy and the system always starts up with Windows XP.
b) Regarding Flash’s question I have contacted and received additional information from Nero AG (the developers of the software that was used to burn the DVD I've been talking about).
Their last message says:
"I have analyzed the log that you have sent us; I can now tell you that the disk is not a multisession disc.
An image file was recorded to a DVD. This DVD has been completed; therefore you cannot add more information to it.
...
With this specific document you have sent us, we can tell you that this is not a multisession disc. An image has been copied to the disk. The resulting disc was a boot disk because the image contained a boot disk."
c) During this time I have often thought that the forum members might not be interested in users of Puppy Linux with poor computer skills like mine.

If this last thought is correct please let me know because I prefer quitting the forum with the best impression of its members than disturbing them with elementary questions.
If it's wrong I would be very grateful if you could (taking into account what I have already said about my problem ) tell me what should I do if I want to continue using a Puppy Linux Live DVD (as I did before) and learning about computers and about free and open source software.
Please excuse me for my English; I’ve lived many years in non-Anglophonic countries.
Regards.

In your second post you make a list of the files.
They are all in capital letters.
They should be in lower case letters._________________Time savers:
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In your second post you make a list of the files.
They are all in capital letters.
They should be in lower case letters.

In Windows Explorer they should appear as all caps b/c puppy isos don't have joliet extensions.

I am having the same problem, but mine worked on one dell latitude and not on another. i think it might have something to do with the fact that it is a dvd-r. I have a CD-RW with Puppy 4.3.1 and it has this problem, while my CD-R with 4.1.2 doesn't. Unfortunately, I don't have any CD-Rs handy and I'm mad that it's not working.

Nothing to do with the fact using CD/DVD-R or CD/DVD-RW, it has all to do with the burning soft used in Windows. Nero is a bad example.
I use, in Windows, imgburn and never had a problem with the case of the puppy files if you look inside the ISO.

And I always use RW ones, so I can use them again._________________Time savers:
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Antipodal
Joined: 26 Mar 2009Posts: 142Location: The other side of the world

Posted: Mon 08 Mar 2010, 15:59 Post_subject:
Thank you Béèm for four messageSub_title: Some more facts.

And thank you for your time.

I never thought that letter case could have something to do with my problem.

Though the file’s list case of my second post was probably copied by me exactly as it was in Windows Explorer, to be sure that it had been so, I repeated the same procedure I described in it, but for my surprise, I discovered a new change I hadn’t mentioned before: Windows Explorer shows DVD-RAM (D:) as if it were empty, when in fact it is loaded with the DVD and the files that were described in my second message.

Other facts:
If I replace the unrecognized Puppy Live DVD by another DVD, the latter is recognized.

Windows Explorer has also recognized two CDs that only have a puppy-4.1.2-k2.6.25.16-seamonkey2.iso on them and two CDs each of which have precisely the same 7 files I described on the Live DVD. They appear exactly with the same letter case, seize, date and hour of modification.

After having the computer unplugged from the wall socket and devoid of the CMOS battery for 7 hours, I restarted it with one of the recognized seven filed CDs in the optical disk drive tray but I only got a brief appearance of WXP on the monitor and then the computer turned off. After some seconds, I started it again, and this time, without any signs of Puppy, the system loaded XP and enslaved me once more.
Any suggestions?
Please, keep in mind that my immediate goal is simply to be able to use Puppy Linux again in this computer.

I just wanted to be sure the system could read DVDs, so what we are calling the recognized dvd only had a copy of a couple of folders mostly with .doc, txt, bmp and .xls files.

Quote:

Have you checked the settings of your BIOS?

I believe the BIOS’s settings are fine and I was about to send you a copy of a .doc document with the details just in case you would want to check it but if I’ve understood correctly this sort of extension is not allowed in the forum.
Best regards
Antipodal

Windows Explorer has also recognized two CDs that only have a puppy-4.1.2-k2.6.25.16-seamonkey2.iso on them

You can't boot from these type of CD's.

Antipodal wrote:

filed CDs

I don't know what you mean by this.

Antipodal wrote:

Please, keep in mind that my immediate goal is simply to be able to use Puppy Linux again in this computer.

So you run puppy on this computer.
Was this a frugal/full install on the HDD?
Was this a boot from CD with a pupsave file on the HDD?_________________Time savers:
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Windows Explorer has also recognized two CDs that only have a puppy-4.1.2-k2.6.25.16-seamonkey2.iso on them

You can't boot from these type of CD's.

Yes, I know that. I was just trying to make it clear that the optical disk drive system works. In a strange way, I agree, but it works. After the problem began I thought it had stopped reading DVDs & CDs. Then I thought it could only recognize Microsoft type of files. With this I have a proof that it can also recognize some Linux based files.

Béèm wrote:

Antipodal wrote:

filed CDs

I don't know what you mean by this.

I used the expression "filed CDs" to name those CDs in which Windows Express showed they contained the files that I have higlighted in red on my second message. It was just another example of how the optical disk drive system is working.

Béèm wrote:

So you run puppy on this computer.

I ran Puppy in this computer 'till the problem arose. Since then I can't run it any more.

Béèm wrote:

Was this a frugal/full install on the HDD?

I never tried to install Puppy on the HDD

Béèm wrote:

Was this a boot from CD with a pupsave file on the HDD?

I always booted from the Live DVD and never tried to save files that were related to Puppy's configuration on the HDD.

I have prepared a .GIF file with my BIOS settings just in case Gerry wants to take a look a at them. I'll try to add an attachment with it in my message.

@Antipodal- Yes, you have CD/DVD-ROM set as first choice for booting, as I hoped. BUT, I notice that every setting has < at the start, and > at the end, except <CD/DVD-ROM Drive has no > at the end. I don't know what this means, or how to fix it, but it is an anomoly that could be relevant.

So to resume:
You had a CD/DVD: from which you could boot puppy.
Is this CD/DVD a R or a RW type?
If RW did you accidentally rewrite it?

In any case the case (upper case or capital) of the file names you showed in red are not good. That should be lower case._________________Time savers:
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